Chapter 10
After dinner, He Guijuan gave Jiang Jiang a bath.
The large wooden basin was filled with water, and He Guijuan also put some ginger slices in it to keep her daughter away from the cold.
Jiang Jiang has a skinny body. His arms and legs are so thin that it makes people feel distressed, especially his ribs, which are so thin that each one is clearly visible.
"Mom, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." He Guijuan wiped her tears quietly, took the soap and bleached towel to wash her daughter's hair and give her a bath.
Jiang Jiang watched He Guijuan bathing herself with a small white soap. As she rubbed herself, bubbles came out, smelling so good. This was truly the most comfortable bath she had ever taken.
After taking a shower, He Guijuan wiped Jiang Jiang's body with a wrung-out towel, and then took out the old clothes given by Zhang Yueju and changed them for Jiang Jiang.
Although the clothes Zhang Yueju gave were old, they were at least girls' clothes and did not look very old. They were much better than Jiang Jiang's tattered clothes that had been worn out to the point where the color could no longer be seen.
Jiang Jiang is naturally pretty, with well-shaped brow bones, big, bright eyes, and long, curled eyelashes. Putting on this dress, the girl looks even more energetic.
She was wearing a thick cotton coat made of floral cloth and dark purple corduroy pants. Her washed hair fell softly on her shoulders. She looked like a well-behaved and likable child.
When He Guijuan carried Jiang Jiang back to the house, the kang had already been heated and was warm.
Lin Youqing was reading a book with his head down when he saw his wife and daughter come in. He was a little surprised. Maybe because she had eaten more in the past few days and was getting enough nutrition, the girl's face was not as sallow as when he first met her. Her long and curled eyelashes were twinkling, and she looked soft and obedient, which made people like her.
He Guijuan took a dry towel and helped her daughter wipe her hair.
"Tomorrow Wang Shuwen's youngest son will be one month old. I plan to take Jiang Jiang with me. Do you want to come with me?"
"I have to go to the commune tomorrow. You can take Jiang Jiang with you. Wang Shuwen's eldest daughter is about the same age as Jiang Jiang. They should be able to play together."
"OK."
He Guijuan dried her daughter's hair, and then used the hot water in the thermos to make a bowl of malted milk for her husband and daughter.
In addition to the rich aroma of milk, the bowl also had a malt aroma. Jiang Jiang just picked up the bowl and wanted to drink it, but she saw that He Guijuan didn't make malt milk for her, so she held the bowl in front of her and said, "Mom, you drink first."
He Guijuan smiled and said, "I don't want to drink it. Jiang Jiang can drink it."
There was no extra room at home, so she put an extra quilt on the kang and let Jiang Jiang sleep with them. After all, the child was still young, so there was nothing to be shy about for the time being.
"Just drink it, mom."
He Guijuan couldn't persuade her, so she took two sips from the edge of the porcelain bowl. It tasted delicious and worth the price.
Jiang Jiang saw He Guijuan drinking it, so she picked up the bowl and took a sip herself. This was her first time drinking malted milk. It was fragrant, rich, and slightly sweet. It was delicious.
"Too much is as bad as too little. You are too nice to me and the child, but you ignore yourself. This will cause psychological burden to the child." Lin Youqing taught his wife.
"Okay, I got it." He Guijuan looked at the bowl her daughter brought over again. She couldn't do anything about the two of them, so the three of them took turns drinking a few sips and finished the two bowls of malted milk.
After drinking, He Guijuan poured some warm water from the thermos and rinsed her own and her husband's daughter's mouth before getting on the kang and into bed.
He Guijuan looked at the ceiling in the night, thinking about the future, "When we return to the county town, we will clean up the study and make it a room for Jiang Jiang. That room faces the sun and is bright."
Their house was allocated by the unit. Because both of them were cadres, they were given a private courtyard with four cave dwellings. When Lin Youqing and his wife first moved in, they divided the uses of each cave dwelling. One cave dwelling was used as a living room, one cave dwelling was their bedroom, one cave dwelling was used as a guest room, and the other cave dwelling was a study.
"Okay, I'll move all my books to our kiln and build a new desk for her. Jiang Jiang will be old enough to go to elementary school next year."
"When we get back to the county, I have to take Jiang Jiang to the department store. We have to buy a lot of new things."
The tattered clothes my daughter wore before must not be kept anymore. After the New Year, it is no longer suitable for her to wear a cotton jacket in the spring. She needs to make two sets of loose spring clothes, buy new sheets and mattresses, and also buy food and toys for the children...
The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't stop thinking about it. He Guijuan smiled and said, "Okay, let's go to bed first."
As she spoke, she covered her daughter with the quilt and blew out the kerosene lamp.
Feng Yin, who was outside the door, was listening to what the family of three said inside and felt jealous to the point of madness.
Why does Jiang Jiang get all the good things?
New clothes, malted milk, life in the city...these should all have been hers!
When she returned to the house, Li Hongmei was mending her clothes and shaking off the cotton wool on them. Seeing her coming back, she couldn't help but ask, "Why did you take so long to pee?"
Feng Yin ignored her mother and took off her shoes and got on the kang. Cao Gen had already fallen asleep with saliva at the corners of his mouth, taking up a large part of her sleeping space.
"I'm talking to you, are you deaf or what?"
"I went to the toilet by the way."
"You're back just in time. Get up and try on this dress." Li Hongmei threw over a piece of clothing that had just been mended. It was obvious that Fengzhen couldn't wear it anymore. The knees were worn out, and Li Hongmei had put a dark patch on it. It looked ugly.
Why can Jiang Jiang make new clothes, but she can only wear the ones Feng Zhen doesn’t want?
"Mom, I don't want this. Please make me a new set of clothes."
"New clothes? You're dreaming. Not to mention that there are no cloth coupons at home, even if we had them, we would give them to your father first, and then your two brothers."
"Look, Jiang Jiang has new clothes, but I don't. I have never worn new clothes since I was a child!"
When Feng Yin mentioned Jiang Jiang, Li Hongmei couldn't help but think of the setbacks she had encountered with Lin Youqing and his wife in the past few days. She angrily slapped Feng Yin's head.
"Did you see your Third Aunt making new clothes for that wild girl?! Don't you realize what fate you have? You are a money-loser. If you don't have that fate, don't think too much about it, unless you beg your Third Uncle and Third Aunt to take you to the county town!"
"Your uncle and aunt haven't had any children for so many years. They probably can't have any. If it weren't for Jiang Jiang, maybe they would be willing to adopt you..."
Li Hongmei's words were like a wake-up call to Feng Yin. Yes, if it weren't for Jiang Jiang, she could have been the daughter of her third uncle and aunt.
Although Li Hongmei just said it casually, it did not prevent Feng Yin from making a calculation in his mind because of her words.
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